Preparation Countdown

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Making Preparations

Today I begin my 10-day countdown of preparations for my worldwide venture.
As someone said

Spread out all the clothes you plan to take and all the money. Take half of the clothes and twice the money.

Yesterday I got my Yellow Fever vaccination from one of the few local doctors authorized to administer the shots. I've already updated hepatitis vaccinations, and secured malarial and polio meds.
My airline reservations worldwide have been completed with the help of Basel from AirTreks. Only a few lodging reservations have been made as I continue to seek local people to host me as I go. My plan is to minimize the number of hotels/hostels in favor of local hosting.
I've been thinking through what to carry in my small backpack and perhaps a small satchel for the four month trip. Mostly I'll be traveling in the summer in the southern hemisphere, but some locations may require warmer clothing--such as Machu Picchu, Bariloche, and Ushaia, Argentina.
Friends are wishing me well, if not wondering, "What has got into this guy?" I can blame everything strange I do on my fall from my treadmill the first day of my retirement two years ago. I cracked my skull in the ear area and brain fluid was leaking days before we discovered that I had more than a bad scalp wound. Close call. "He hasn't been the same since!" explains a lot.
What possesses a 68-year-old man to quit his part-time retirement jobs and go wandering around the world? Well, it's there and it's round. Once bitten by the travel bug, there's no turning back. That's me (first page) astride a yak in Tibet a few years ago. If I can make it in Tibet, surely, I can make it anywhere.

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